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Here's a description of the afternoon's events from one of the participants .. crossposted with permission .. (note how Joe is busy trying to place the latest arrival in the midst of all the activity - he stays focused)

KAMIKAZE Generator and THANKSGIVING Grain Day !

Well folks it was an eventful day ... I seem to do better with lists,so here goes:

1) We left Ione at 10:30am with the generator and gifts loaded up.

2) 11:30am stop in Sacramento to get fuel for Joe's gas can; flowers(yellow/blush roses) for Cathy; salad, fresh French bread, and butterto go with the raviolis; dry cat food and dog food.

3) Mike thought he had a better idea about how to get to Georgie's,but apparently Yahoo was right. We started getting worried when wesaw the signs for Zamora so Mike called Georgie and she got us turnedaround and back on course. So, we went about 30 miles out of our way!

4) 12:45pm we arrived at Georgie's wonderful place and were welcomedwith open arms and the smell of fresh baked cookies. We also got tosee Jennie's wonderful artwork and were given the Grand Tour of thebarn with nine of the sweetest equines you'd ever want to meet: horses and mules both!

5) Jessica Young (Petaluma) arrived in her new car with a large bag of halters for Joe. She volunteered to be the designated photographer. She also brougnt photos of Lolly and Penny Pony (her rescues) to share! She bought each of these mares for $50 apiece!

9) Georgie had called Joe, only to learn that he'd forgotten about our visit. She told him we were on our way.

10) 1:30pm the "convoy" of 5 trucks led by Georgie headed out for TBFriends.

11) 1:45pm We arrived at TB Friends to see a crew of men repairing the damage to one of Joe's barns and Joe looking very surprised at the long line of trucks in his driveway.

12) Joe was happy to see us and wanted us to wait until Cathy got back from Home Depot. While we were waiting he noticed the FOTBF shirts and said "I want a shirt ...where can I get a shirt?"...we told him to be patient ... He said he needed a XXL and we told him we probably had that size!

10) Joe gets a distress call from Cathy. Apparently the load ofmetal roofing and lumber she got at Home Depot was not tied down andshe lost the load in downtown Woodland. Needless to say, he andshe were both very upset. Joe could not leave with the constructionworkers on the roof, so Wendy drove Georgie and Mike into town tohelp poor Cathy with the load.

13) Meanwhile, the group visited with Pony Boy, Georgia, Beans,Sadie, and the horses.

14) Joe was very eager to show us his newest rescue from thetrack "BeenThereDoneThat". He is a stunning gelding with abeautiful head and build. Joe was most impressed with his mind ...he is very kind and gentle, Joe thought he would be a great kid'shorse. Joe actually wanted one of this group to adoptBeenThereDoneThat.

15) While we waited, it was clear that "BeenThereDoneThat" had notreceived proper footcare in some time, so Sally (bare-hooftrim.com)came to the rescue, put on her chinks, pulled out her tools andstarted helping his hooves! Jennie held the leadrope as "Been"calmly cooperated. He is a beauty...very fancy gelding he is! Now,thanks to Sally, his feet are headed back in the right direction!

16) After about 30 minutes, Wendy with Mike, and Cathy with Georgiereturned from town with the load safely tied in. We were eager toget started, but Cathy needed to get the materials to thecarpenters, so she drove around the barn.

17) The next thing we see is Cathy walking towards us visiblyupset ... as she rounded the corner of the barn, the 2"x4"x16'caught on a wire and snapped in half! She was thinking she wouldhave to go back to Home Depot and buy more lumber. However, aftersome efforts at bilingual communication, it was determined that thecarpenters could work with the pieces that were left!

18) And so we got started!!! It was kind of like Christmas...Sr.Chow, pet food, pies, kitty litter, blankets, UPS, halters, water,dinner, cookies, security light, brushes, t-shirts (in the xxl sizeand m for Cathy), mugs, shop light, note from Shelley and Anne, fullgas can, and flowers. They were amazed, but we warned them thatthere was more!

19) Georgie started out by presenting Joe and Cathy with the GrainCard ... Jennie was there to read her inscription ... Cathy was inshock ... once Joe understood the size of the gift, he wasdumbstruck ... really, really happy! He read MeShawn's letter andjust kept looking over the card and re-reading it. There were manyteary eyes...

20) Then I explained that we had a large gift in the back of thetruck. Something to go with the gas can. I gave Joe the card andtried to read him the quote on the front, but found myself chokingup. I told him that this represented the efforts of a group thathad grown to over 145 members from the US and Canada. Fred and Mikewere in the back of the truck and lifted up the camo-tarp to revealthe generator. Joe and Cathy were amazed! They had tears in theireyes.

21) Cathy kept repeating "this is too much, this is too much"...Ikept repeating .."no, it's fine!" Joe watched eagerly as Candi'sdaughter helped Fred and Mike roll the heavy generator down off ofthe truck. Joe was looking at us incredulously - asking how do youguys communicate? I told him that we just held our hand to ourheads and sent each other thoughts ;-)

22) Joe said that during the fire, the Fire Department brought thema generator for their refrigerator. I asked him if he still hadit. He said no, they took it back. Then Cathy pointed out that ifwe needed a generator, we could borrow hers LOL ...i.e., the one wejust gave them. They were really, really thankful for everything!

23) So, for the next hour or so, the group helped put the giftsaway (before Lilly the horse ate all the apples and opened all thebags) and visited with Joe, Cathy, Sadie, Georgia, Beans, the cats,more dogs, and, of course, the horses. We got to sample Jennie andGeorgie's scrumptious chocolate chip cookies! Joe brought the macawout, but I was out looking at horses and never got to see it. Joebrought out a wonderful colored pencil portrait that Jennie had doneof Pony Boy.

24) Joe took me to see 3 crippled horses that he saved. He saidthat they would have been trampled in the slaughter truck...he savedthem...they might be crippled now, but they are safe and bright andbeautiful and happy!25) I called MeShawn and handed Joe the phone! He was eager to speak with her and really wanted her to adopt "BeenThereDoneThat" … As it was, she was in the middle of a ride during the call!

26) We told Joe that Shelley took her FOTBF shirt to the Great Wall of China!

27) There was so much going on that I can't begin to tell youeverything that was going on ... we had hoped to go to dinner, buttoo many of us needed to work tomorrow, so we decided to leave thatfor another day. Jennie and Marie got photos of Pony Boy "in" his t-shirt (I donated mine to that cause). Sally did one last touch upon BeenThereDoneThat as Jennie held him in his little round pen.(BTW ... YES, JOE NEEDS PANELS and FENCE POSTS!)

We hated to leave, but Joe had to go work at another ranch and, ofcourse, they had to feed their own herd! So, it was an overwhelmingday ... I know that our efforts were genuinely appreciated. Joekept saying that he looked at generators and they were expensive,very expensive! Georgie told him that if he got grain by thepallet, Windmill Feed would give him a discount ... the hugs andthanks never stopped.

To quote the lyrics from a Hoyt Axton Song (Pet Parade):

"It was a great day, it was a fun day, just couldn't wait day, itwas the one day, All of the pets and all of their brothers danced inthe streets and loved one another"

It was that kind of day! :-)YOU ALL MADE THIS A DAY WE WILL NEVER FORGET!

OK ... I'll try the photos again! THANKS TO ALL OF YOU! All of the hugs were with all of you in mind!!! All of the thanks were for all of you!

From:
Guest

TB Friends is a rescue run by a couple on their ranch in Woodland, CA. As the name implies, Joe primarily focuses on TBs - saving them from killbuyers and other unfortunate situations. (Yes, there are killbuyers in CA, in spite of the state anti-slaughter regulations. The ban on shipment to out-of-state facilities is not enforced.) Many of the TBs find homes fairly quickly - some in h/j barns, others as backyard pets. Some - the crippled ones - remain at his place for life - others are fosterd by a number of caring supporters, rehabbed and then placed. Last year around 100 horses found new homes via his efforts.

A nasty wildfire swept through his area last fall, damaging his barn, fencing, etc. A group of people who wanted to help formed - the Friends of TBFriends. We communicate via a yahoo group, at http://pets.groups.yahoo.com/group/FriendsofTBFriends(There are photos of yesterday's delivery on the yahoo site.)

From:
Guest

From:
Guest

12/4/06

TBFriends is a N.CA rescue ranch for thoroughbreds. Joe rescues those horses from the racetracks (sometimes the trainers send them to him), but also from the feedlots and slaughter trucks. Most of the horses have been injured (racing injuries) or abused or have been neglected. Joe and his wife Cathy have done this on their own for years. They do not ask for donations but appreciate them. People can adopt TBs from them and the money is recycled into saving more horses. Joe always thinks of the horses first, not to make his own life easier. This is where Friends of TBFriends comes in... as a group, we can choose a project and people decide if they want to/can contribute. We only started in October and have already done great things.

Joe also writes a daily blog of the activities at the ranch. In September, they sustained a lot of damage due to fires.

From:
Guest

From:
Guest

12/4/06

HI: So proud to read about all the nice gifts for Joe and Cathy Shelton.............I ready Joe's comments everyday. How does one get to be a member of this group? I would be interested in joining if possible. My email address is: jeanettecav@msn.com